Photo-ethnographic Methods in Cultural Anthropology

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26580154
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology
• Research Institution: National Museum of Ethnology
• Principal Investigator: Iwatani Hirofumi 国立民族学博物館, 民族社会研究部, 外来研究員 (00508872)
• Research Collaborator: Iwatani Ayako 京都大学, 大学院地球環境学堂, 准教授 ; Ishita Saeko 大阪市立大学, 大学院文学研究科, 教授 ; Okada Hiroki 神戸大学, 大学院国際文化学研究科, 教授 ; Kaneda Junpei 国立民族学博物館, 文化資源研究センター, 機関研究員 ; Kein Julian 大阪市立大学, 大学院文学研究科, 博士後期課程 ; Sawano Michiko 神戸大学, 大学院国際文化学研究科・国際文化学研究支援推進センター, 協力研究員 ; Tahara Noriko 四天王寺大学, 人文社会学部, 教授
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: エスノグラフィー / デジタル化時代 / デジタル写真 / フォト・エスノグラフィー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to consider how to take advantage of the photographs collected by anthropological field work in the digital age as survey data, and to explore a ethnographic method can be called photo-ethnography in which photographs will be mainly utilized. Through their application and practical approaches such as adopting the photo-ethnography for the field work performed by the investugator and some anthropologists that include research collaborators, introducing it into the practical training class of some universities and graduate schools, and designing a static image management system experiencing it on the computer, the principal investigator performs a theoretical quest concerned of the use of photographs in ethnography and verifies the possibility. Being based on that, the principal investigator has found a basic outlook that will contribute to its methodology.

Free Research Field

文化人類学